The new year starts off with yet another update to Kyno. Lesspain Software’s take on easy footage reviewing, organisation, transcoding and labelling is now available for both Mac OS and Windows! Read on for all the features of Kyno 1.4.
If you’re in need of a robust on-set solution for organizing, reviewing and preparing your footage for a seamless downstream postproduction, Kyno 1.4 is definitely worth a closer look. Check out our coverage on version 1.3 if you’re new to Kyno.
New Features of Kyno 1.4
The biggest news in Kyno 1.4 is the support for Microsoft Windows machines! This much-needed feature had been in beta for quite some time, and Lesspain promises that the outcome is a rock-solid product. Together with the Mac OS version, Kyno 1.4 results in a fully cross-platform solution for everything that has to be done before post production.
Another big improvement is the support for LUTs. The software provides seamless integration of LUT handling in material preview, organization and transcoding. Quality control and the creation of dailies of otherwise flat looking LOG footage becomes a breeze.
With its attention to detail, Lesspain has further improved the overall experience with Kyno 1.4. A new “play all” function accelerates your workflow allowing selected clips to be viewed in sequence with just one click or keyboard shortcut. Kyno’s list view can now be customized to taste. A new feature called “combine clips” does exactly that – an easy-to-use, metadata-aware function that adds an array of new options for delivery workflows. You can combine a few shots, add a corresponding shot list and deliver all this as a neat package with its own tag straight to your NLE of choice.
LUT support in Kyno 1.4 (player & transcoder)
You can now add a timecode overlay to your transcodes, which can be useful when generating review copies. GoPro’s Cineform is now supported as yet another 10-bit codec to choose from. When exporting an XML file, you now can set the file paths to relative, making it super easy to deploy a self-contained package without the need to reconnect within your NLE.
New Pricing model
A regular license for Kyno is €159 and, beginning with Kyno 1.4, users with licenses older than a year will no longer receive any updates. This one is a double-edged sword. You have to purchase an update for your license if you want to get the latest releases. A year’s worth of updates is $79/€79, but Lesspain Software makes it clear that this is not a subscription. Your existing license won’t get voided and you can use your version of Kyno as long as you please. However, if you want to get updates, you’ll have to pay.
It should be obvious that a relatively small studio like Lesspain Software has to find the funds in order to keep working on relevant updates to its lineup of products. I think the solution they’ve come up with is reasonable. You don’t have to pay if you’re fine with your existing version of Kyno, but if some of the features appeal to you, you can still decide to fork over the cash. That way, Kyno can flourish with even more helpful future releases.
To ease the pain, Lesspain offers a 25% discount on the regualar pice as well as on the license update price. The sale will run until the end of January, and there is also a free 30-day trial available for download. You can even use it if you’ve tried it before, as all trials have been reset.
links: Lesspain Software
Is Kyno 1.4 something you’ve waited for? Let us now what you think in the comments below!

Lesspain Software have announced yet another update to their take on a complete software solution for easy footage review, organisation, transcoding and labelling. You might have heard the name before, so let’s dive right into Kyno 1.3.
If you’re new to Kyno you might want to brush up your knowledge of it before diving into the new features of Kyno 1.3. Check out this article about the initial release and this one about new features in version 1.2 of Kyno. Also watch the follwing introduction clip as a quick summery of what Kyno is capable of (the video is not yet updated to ver 1.3):
I really think this piece of software has a lot of potential but let’s check out the new features in Kyno 1.3 before judging it.
Kyno 1.3 – Features
According to Lesspain Software the Kyno 1.3 release focuses on a wide range of improvements, most of which are based on their community’s feedback and requests. Here is a list of things the team has worked on:
The Premiere Pro integration has become much more flexible as it now allows you the option to use Kyno subclips as markers in Premiere in addition to the option of using them as Premiere subclips.
A lot of new keyboard shortcuts have been added, among them send to FCP | send to Premiere | export to Excel | zoom in/out |toggle drilldown | switch keyboard focus (between different detail view areas) | set ratings
Selecting the most recently used conversion presets is now faster.
Kyno’s naming engine has lots of new metadata variables for experts to use as well as an improved UI.
Batch tagging has become more efficient and the Excel export more flexible.
New filters have been added so you can now filter your material based on scene, shot, take and more descriptive metadata fields.
For the whole list of features please check the Kyno Website.
All in all the team behind Kyno 1.3 have tried to polish the existing set of features rather than throw in tons of new ones.
It is very much a release that focusses on tweaking productivity in many workflows even more.
A personal licence for Kyno 1.3 is $159 and it’s available here. There’s also a free trial available for download.
Development in Progress
I think this is the way to go. Not only for Kyno but for all software manufacturers. It’s always better to refine and poilish an existing set of features until it’s rock solid and proven by the user base before moving on to completely new features. Evolution vs. revolution. Also, always having an open ear for the needs of users is a good habit for any software (and hardware) manufacturer, of course.
Last but not least, there’s one feature which is new, indeed but it’s at the same time a much needed one: Support for Microsoft Windows! It’s still in its beta state but you can register for the Kyno 1.3 beta program here.
You can get Kyno 1.3 with a 25% discount for the next two weeks.
Links: Lesspain Software
Are you using Kyno in your workflow? Shore your experiences in the comments below!

Lesspain Software have announced an update to their handy footage review, transcoding and workflow software. Kyno 1.2 features added sub-clipping functionality, improved integration with FCPX and a number of new supported formats.
The folks behind Kyno certainly have been busy. After a generous discount on Kyno last month, Lesspain Software have released a new upgraded version with improvements that add to the usability of this software for certain workflows. Let’s take a look at Kyno 1.2, and make sure you stick around until the end article for some discount coupon goodness!
Sub-clipping
Finding those usable sections of clips is an essential part of editing, and tackling this process in an organised manner guarantees that the creative part of editing will be a lot more fun and streamlined. While there are different ways of approaching sorting through clips in your NLE, you can also use Kyno’s intuitive footage review engine to quickly select those clips that will make it to the next stage of editing.
Sub-clip export was already available previously in the software, but Kyno 1.2 adds the option of including “handles” on your selected material, allowing you a bit of wiggle room and space to add transitions when it comes to editing. The addition of handles is now also available in the export, transcoding and rewrapping functionality within Kyno 1.2.
Final Cut Pro X Workflow
Users editing on Apple’s platform will be happy to see that Kyno 1.2 makes it even easier to integrate with this particular NLE. New metadata functionality now allows you to export from Kyno using the keyword collection and favorites ratings, meaning you can now ingest footage that’s rated, tagged and ready to go by the time it gets into FCPX.
Support for More Formats
Kyno 1.2 now supports even more formats, adding to the software’s usability. They include:
Playback and transcoding of high-end ProRes MXF and DNxHR footage.
Playback and transcoding of AVI footage from medical equipment, such as baby ultrasounds.
Playback, logging and transcoding of FRAPS footage, particularly useful for gamers.
Playback and transcoding of HAP footage, an open-source codec.
Added support for RAW files from Olympus and Fujifilm cameras (ORF & RAF).
Added support for XAVC files from FS-5 cameras that were autoconverted by FCPX.
Fix playback of some very old AVI files using a Microsoft variant of the Mpeg-4 codec.
Added support for playback and transcoding of Apple Core Audio Format.
These are just some of the main improvements of Kyno 1.2, so make sure to check out the release notes to see the full story!
Never heard of Kyno before? Check out the video below to see all it can do. And make sure you use coupon code C5DKYNO12 for a 15% discount on the software, valid until the end of March 2017. Thanks, Kyno!

Lesspain Software are offering 25% off the price of their footage review and workflow software Kyno. But hurry, the deal won’t last forever!
Kyno from Lesspain is a neat and elegant solution for OSX that allows you to quickly review, sort, label, trim and transcode footage, all from just the one piece of software. In the short time that Kyno has been out, the software has proven quite popular among shooters, very likely due to its ease of use and user-friendly interface.
With a usual price tag of USD 159/ EUR 159, it may not be an ideal solution for every single kind of shooter out there, and perhaps a large amount of shooters do just fine with a combination of Finder and their transcoding solution of choice. But if you are dealing with large amounts of new footage on a day-to-day basis, if your work involves sorting through heaps of archive material, or if you are thinking of starting to meta-tag your shots for future reference, then there really is no way to go wrong with this solution.
Kyno is a particularly attractive tool now that Lesspain Software are offering a 25% discount, bringing the total price to USD 119 / EUR 119, so certainly worth considering even if you’re not a full time pro! The deal is valid until the end of January 2017, and you can get your copy of Kyno here!
What’s your preferred way of sorting through your footage? Let us know in the comments below.

Lesspain Software have recently introduced a new software called KYNO that allows clip viewing, selection, labelling and marking, as well as transcoding to various formats. It is an easy to use interface, that has a lot of power under the hood. Here are some of the key features.
Media Overview and Labelling
KYNO is a platform that gives you an overview of all your footage. You can either view material that is stored on your hard drive, or directly from an SD card or similar format (RAW files, such as R3D, ArriRaw, Black Magic Raw are not supported at this stage). Through the interface, you are able to batch rename files, label, tag and rate them, and sort them by adding metadata descriptions.
When searching for footage, you can filter via metadata such as frame rate or date. If you tagged or labelled your shots, you can search for them via the tag keyword – for example “timelapse”.
KYNO also allows you to view your content in the correct frame rate. Slow motion shots can be conformed for previewing at a normal frame rate. You can also add widescreen masks, to see whether the framing of your shot is correct.
Shot selections, or sub-clips, can be easily imported into editing platforms, such as Final Cut X or Premiere Pro.
Markers
Create Excel Edit Feedback Lists with thumbnails
KYNO also has marker features which work with editing platforms, DVD Menus, or to create an EDL, exported as an Excel spreadsheet that displays a thumbnail of the shot, with timecode and description for edit changes. This is a cool feature that is great for when the director isn’t able to sit behind the editor.
Creating Dailies / Transcoding
KYNO has a wide variety of formats it can transcode to, covering all the bases from ProRes to DNxHD to H264. A nice feature that I came across is the ability to create markers on shots, which you can use to export stills. You can even select a whole folder full of footage, and batch export the frames you marked.
Conclusion and Pricing
KYNO is a great platform to view content, catalogue in a comprehensive manner and export basic dailies, but I would like to see this software evolve a bit more. Currently, it doesn’t support RAW files, so it is not ideal for dailies on a professional filmset. There are other features missing such as burned in overlays for timecode, copyright labelling or clip name. These are the fundamental features that are needed in a media management software. It does, however, have the cool feature of creating markers that can be exported as an Edit List, which is great for productions where the director isn’t present in the edit. KYNO is still in BETA stage, so there is lots of room to grow, and we will be keeping an eye on it.
You will be able to use Kyno Beta for 3 months free of charge, and is available for download here. Kyno will be available for purchase in August 2016 for a retail price of $159. For more information please visit KYNO’s website. For more information please visit KYNO’s website.